The Trump administration is more concerned with the quality of trade agreements than their timing, U.S. Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent said on Monday ahead of an August 1 deadline for countries to secure trade deals or face steep tariffs.

China talks could include a discussion of China’s purchases of Russian and Iranian oil, a signal that the focus could shift from more traditional trade issues to ones that cross over into matters of national security.

The visit highlights efforts to strengthen security and economic ties between the U.S. and Philippines as tensions rise in the Indo-Pacific.

President Trump is set to meet at the White House on Tuesday with President Ferdinand Marcos Jr. of the Philippines, who is seeking to leverage his country’s close relationship with the United States to secure a more favorable trade deal.

China accounted for 5.89% of all U.S. trade in May, its lowest percentage in decades. Trump’s tariffs or trade trickery? It’s hard to dispute it’s a remarkable shift.